Former Georgia Bulldog DL and No. 1 NFL Pick Travon Walker Gets Massive Pay Day
DON’T MISS OUT: Get our insider newsletter today!
ATHENS - Former Georgia Bulldog defensive lineman and NFL No. 1 pick Travon Walker agreed to a massive contract on Thursday.
That’s according to multiple reports out of the NFL. The fully-guaranteed deal is worth $37.4 million, and is a four-yard deal with the Jags with a fifth-year option. Walker’s signing bonus is $24.4 million, which he is set to receive this season.
The earliest Walker could hit the free agent market is when he’s 27-years old in 2027. The market for No. 1 overall draft picks has changed since Matthew Stafford went No. 1 overall to the Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft. That year Stafford and the Lions agreed to a 6-year $72 million contract that included $48.4 million in guaranteed money.
After drafting Travon Walker No. 1 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars now have +700 odds to win the AFC South this fall according to FanDuel.
Walker said before the draft that he should be taken No. 1 overall.
“I want to be the best, and I know I am the best,” he said.
Walker was the fifth Georgia football player to be selected first overall in the NFL Draft and the first since Stafford was picked first by the Detroit Lions in 2009. With the pick, Georgia ties Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and USC for the most No. 1 picks by one institution at five. It is also the earliest selection for a Georgia defensive player in the Common Draft Era, besting the No. 6 picks previously used on Richard Seymour (2001) and Johnathan Sullivan (2003).
Walker was is the 16th defensive lineman to be selected first in the draft, the third-most of any position behind quarterback and running back in the event’s 87-year history. The Thomaston native started at defensive tackle in all 15 games last season for the Bulldogs, tallying 37 total tackles, six sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, and a team-high 36 quarterback hurries. Walker closed out his Georgia tenure with a career-best seven pressures in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Alabama. In 2019, he was named to the Freshman All-SEC Team, helping Georgia clinch the SEC East title at Auburn on a fourth-down sack of Bo Nix.